David Balland, co-founder of Cryptocurrency Wallet Developer Ledger, was rescued in a police operation after he was kidnapped in a ransom attack in France, according to reports, ending a day of swirling rumours.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Ballard and his wife were kidnapped early Tuesday from their home in central France and held captive at two separate addresses, Reuters reported on Friday. The prosecutor said the kidnappers contacted another ledger founder to demand ransom paid in cryptocurrencies.

A police operation involving French elite forced Gign Freed Ballard on Wednesday and his wife was found on Thursday, the prosecutor said. Ballard was taken to hospital to receive treatment for one of his hands, which was mutilated, Beccuau said without revealing further details, according to Reuters. Local newspaper Le Parisien reported that attackers removed Ballard’s finger and sent it to associated companies to extort a ransom.

“We are deeply relieved that David and his wife have been released and are now safe,” said Pascal Gauthier, chairman and CEO of Ledger, in a statement shared with Coindesk.

Rumors circulated on social media earlier this week that one of the co-founders of Ledger had been kidnapped. Reports that Eric Larchevêque, another co-founder of the company, was the victim turned out to be false. Coindesk reached out to Ledger for confirmation at the time, but the company did not comment.

“Our highest priority was always to allow law enforcement to do their jobs and protect the integrity of the investigation,” said CEO Gauthier. “We respected law enforcement requests to protect critical details of the ongoing investigation and appreciated members of the press doing the same.”

The incident was another example of an alarming trend of robberies and crimes targeting crypto traders and industry figures as the Crypto Bull market marches on creating wealth for investors. For example, Dean Skurka, CEO of Wonderfi, a publicly traded crypto holding company that owns one of Canada’s largest crypto exchanges, was kidnapped for ransom in Toronto last year.

“Have seen an uptick in IRL [real life] Robberies targeting crypto traders located in Western Europe in the past few months, “Popular Blockchain Sleuth Zachxbt posted on Telegram.” The cases all involve well-known people in the crypto community, where they were held at gunpoint. As the rest of the cycle continues, be extra careful about who you share your winnings with and meet with [in real life]”